


Though Nothing Remains

by JoAsakura



Series: Blood and Fire [4]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 15:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2353730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoAsakura/pseuds/JoAsakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirkwall is the cruelest mistress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Though Nothing Remains

Varric Tethras is very good at several things.

But he’s at his best when he’s spinning a story. And like any good storyteller, he knows what to leave out.

When he tells the Seeker of Leandra Hawke’s death, he relates how happy Hawke was to see his mother at first - how happy she was to be courted, how it seemed like the chill, civil rift that had lay between them since Bethany’s death was slowly bridging.

And he tells the seeker of how the chasind stalker had tracked his mother’s blood across the city, how they killed the man responsible for her death. And how Hawke had cried, cradling he monstrosity his mother had become in his arms while the rest of them could only watch.

What Varric does not tell Cassandra is this:

 

At the sight of the first drops of his mother’s blood, Hawke knelt on the filthy lowtown street, still in the wan moonlight.

Varric shouldered Bianca, and watched, not Hawke, so much as the way Anders’ eyes narrowed. They had all fought beside Hawke for years, had gone on adventures he wouldn’t have believed if he hadn’t been there to write them all down.

And they had all understood, in as few words as they would spare to speak of it, that there was more to Hawke than any of them knew. Perhaps more than he knew. But he had stood beside them when no one else would, their little family of misfits, and to a one, they had decided they would stand behind him.

Varric was surprised when Fenris laid a hand on Anders’ arm, metal gauntlet tightening ever so slightly as they all watched the blood shimmer beneath Hawke’s trembling fingertips.

"I know where she is." The rogue growled, taking off at a pace even Fenris was hard pressed to match.

The smell of the foundry had masked it before, Varric came to know later, but Hawke was locked onto the trail of blood like some thing out of legend, a red fire burning behind his blue eyes. The same red fire he’d seen in the deep roads so many years before.

In Quentin’s lair, Anders and Varric paused to leaf through the notes they found strewn about. But the information came too late as they discovered the truth.

But when the fighting was nearly over, Leandra’s grey, twitching form spasming with false life on the floor, he did not simply kill the mage, mourn his mother and put her to rest.

The three of the froze as Hawke slammed Quentin into the stony wall, twin knives crossed at the man’s throat. Blood oozed from the throbbing veins, and the dead air around them, heavy with the stench of demon and decay, began to stir. “TELL ME HOW TO SAVE HER.” Hawke roared.

Behind him Anders and Varric shared a look. “Love… there is no..” the healer started, but the words died in his mouth as Quentin’s blood began to slide in rapid red streaks along Hawke’s blades, towards the rogue, INTO his bared flesh.

Quentin screamed as Hawke tore the magic in his blood out of him one drop at a time, teeth bared like a dragon might. The screaming only stopped when a stout bolt took him through the eye, and finished him.

Hawke barely acknowledged what Varric had done, stumbling towards his mother. “I can save you. I can fix this, mother. Please. Please.”

One hand - a hand that was not hers, a hand that had never reached out to him, touched his cheek with cold, flaking fingers. “I’m sorry, Gavin.” She rasped, lungs that were not hers pushing air through her dead lips. “You were more the son to me, than I was ever mother to you.”

"No, no. Mother, I can.." Hawke rocked her, Quentin’s blood smeared across his face, burning. "I could make this better."

"You can only make this worse." Fenris said behind him with horrible kindness.

"You’ve grown so strong." She brushed away his tears the way she had never once before. "I wish you had been mine."

"I always knew." Hawke cradled her close. "Father.. and Carver.. and Bethany will be waiting for you. Don’t be afraid."

"I was only ever afraid of you." She said as he took the last of Quentin’s magic from her. "I will always regret that, my dear."

The scream that echoed through Darktown that night was one no human throat could make.

~~  
Hawke woke up in his bed, blood washed from his skin, a robe and soft trousers near the bed. He could hear the voices outside his door and his mouth tasted like one of Anders’ sleeping potions.

He didn’t remember coming there. Didn’t remember who had cleaned him. He heard Aveline snap at Gamlen, and the door opened a crack. “We’ve been taking turns along with Anders. He’s not left your side since we returned.” Fenris said, sitting on the edge of the bed, green eyes sharp as his sword. “Isabela’s dragged the abomination off to the kitchens long enough for Bodhan to feed him.”

"I will understand, if you wish to… sever our association." Hawke said, running a hand through still-damp hair. "I am something of an abomination myself, I think. I would not hold it against you if.."

"I tolerate the dalish witch and that feathered idiot downstairs." Fenris pushed off the bed and stared at the flickering fire. "Despite my reaffirmed belief that magic does far more harm than it will ever good." He paused, drumming steel fingertips along the marble.

"Fenris…"

"I prefer you to either of them, regardless of what sort of monster you are." The elf turned slowly. "I will follow you to the ends of the earth, Hawke. And I will be the one to end you, if you turn out to truly be the abomination you believe. Quickly, painlessly. I will protect you and I will destroy you if I have to."

Hawke nodded. “That’s more than I could ever ask for.” He clutched the sheets to his chest, daring a peek towards Fenris. “I regret how things ended between us.”

"As do I." Fenris snorted and turned to leave. "I’ll make sure the idiot knows you’re awake."

Hawke fell back on the bed and covered his face.


End file.
